Cal and CoB have already (predictably) rationalized that historical fact.bear2034 said:
I don't know why it hasn't happened yet but students will eventually ask the university to remove all references to Berkeley from the school name since Bishop Geroge Berkeley was a slaveowner. When that happens, we go back to the University of California or Cal.
"We acknowledge that the university's founders chose to name their new town and campus after an individual whose views warrant no honor or commemoration," a UC Berkeley spokesperson said in a statement shared with SFGATE. "At the same time, we are cognizant of the fact that over the course of the ensuing 155 years since the university's founding, 'Berkeley' has come to embody and represent very different values and perspectives including our belief in, and actions to advance the application of academic excellence in support of the greater good, equity, inclusion, diversity, justice, and social mobility."
Berkeley city officials declined to comment, though a spokesperson for Mayor Jesse Arregun's office said that any consideration of a change to the city's name would require an amendment to the city charter through a voter-approved ballot measure. Since Berkeley was incorporated into the state under its current name, a name change would likely also require new state legislation, the spokesperson added.